The flight back to Kanto from Lumiose City wasn't even close to being as enjoyable as the reverse had been about a year ago. Ash and Pikachu both felt pretty miserable the whole way, and their body language showed it. Ash sat low in his seat, head drooping to the side as he stared out the window. Pikachu was on his lap, curled up as comfortably as possible, but constantly fidgeting as sleep evaded him throughout the hours.
The two had obviously returned home after losing leagues before, but this felt more painful and frustrating. After finishing in the Top Four in Sinnoh, Ash had been sure he was close. Then, after losing in the Unova League, Ash had seen it as a wake up call. He had to try harder, and really earn his way to the top. So, after working so long and so hard throughout his Kalos journey, Ash was crushed that he'd gone so far to only lose once again.
"What are we supposed to do, Pikachu?" he whispered gloomily. "I've loved travelling, I know you have too, but it's just that we're always pulled back by something. At least, that's how it feels." He took a deep breath and glanced down to Pikachu, who stared back up with what Ash knew was a similar expression to his. Pikachu's eyes showed sadness, his ears drooped and his head hung low. Really, Ash had never seen Pikachu look like this, and he supposed the electric mouse had never seen him look like this. He tried to think of something that would cheer both of them up. "Well, at least when we get home, we can get some of my mom's cooking. We'll even be able to see all of the other Pokemon. No place like home, right?"
"Pika," Pikachu squeaked, raising his head a bit and nodding. His eyes seemed to light up a bit. Ash knew his partner Pokemon enjoyed their trips back to Pallet Town, and would definitely be happy to see his old friends at the lab. It would be a good place to temporarily forget about the disappointment of their finals loss.
Ash even felt a little better after thinking about it a little more. He'd have to come up with something to do next. He knew he had to figure out what his plan was and where to go next soon enough. However, relaxing at home would be fun. He realized he hadn't exactly done much of that since he'd gone on his Pokemon journey. Maybe sitting still for awhile would be a good thing. It wasn't like he couldn't train while at home. He had plenty of Pokemon that he hadn't seen in awhile, so why not work with them for a bit?
But we still need to go on at some point. I'm not giving up on my dream, Ash thought to himself, turning his head back to the window, noticing that they seemed to be flying over Pewter City. He recognized the gym far down below, and wondered if the gym leader, Brock, was having a battle. "Well, if we're at Pewter City, I guess we'll be in Viridian City pretty soon," Ash said to Pikachu, nodding to himself as they quickly approached the Viridian Forest. "Ready for the walk back to Pallet Town?"
"Pika!" Pikachu said happily, sitting up and stretching. Both he and Ash were definitely more the walking type, rather than the sitting in a plane type. A walk from Viridian City to Pallet Town wasn't too long, not for experienced travellers like them, and it was a good opportunity to stretch their legs after the long flight.
It was still about a half an hour before they passed the forest and began the descent to the ground. Ash never understood that about planes, but he stayed patient until they were finally landed, and were able to get up. Luckily, he was a light traveller, with just his backpack with him, so once he was through security, he was able to get out of the airport fairly quickly.
Once outside, he stretched his arms out and took a deep breath, letting the sunlight warm his face. Pikachu did the same up on his shoulder. "Things are already starting to feel better, don't you think? It's good to be back in Kanto again."
"Chaaa!" Pikachu agreed, closing his eyes and sniffing the air, as though trying to convey that Kanto had a different smell to Kalos. Clearly it was one he enjoyed.
"Well," Ash said, smiling as he looked towards the direction of Pallet Town, "I guess we should get going. We can probably get back in perfect time for dinner. Maybe Professor Oak has some good food for you as well.
Pikachu nodded, and then the two of them set off. It took awhile to manoeuvre around the traffic clogging up the roads near the airport, but finally they managed to get to a path leading towards the exit of the city. After a few more minutes, they were finally on the quiet trail back to Pallet Town, where their journey had actually begun.
"Remember that first day, Pikachu?" Ash asked, looking around at the trail. Up ahead he could even see the hill where he and Pikachu had fought off that angry flock of Spearow. "What a way to start our journey together, huh?"
"Pika-kachu..." Pikachu mumbled, not sounding too happy. He was clearly thinking about how he'd been kind of a difficult travel companion at first.
Ash wasn't upset about that at all, though. In fact, it was an important thing to remember, as it showed just how far the two of them had come. They'd gone from being a Pokemon and trainer that couldn't get along, to being the best of friends that could probably never handle being apart anymore. That angry flock of Spearow had done them a favour in a way. "That was a good day, Pikachu. We'll remember it as one of our best moments when we're champions."
Their walk continued in silence while they made their way along the trail. Ash remembered running along it as he'd attempted to rush Pikachu to the Viridian City Pokemon Centre and away from the Spearow as quickly as possible. He remembered how that red-headed girl who fished him out of the river had had a bike, and he'd always wondered if he would have been able to make it faster if he'd taken it. He'd been tempted, but had decided it wasn't worth the trouble. Besides, that girl had seemed like an angry person. She probably would've been after him if he'd tried to take her bike, even if he would've brought it back at some point.
After about three hours of walking, with only a couple short breaks in that time, Ash finally started hearing the sounds of the town ahead. He picked up his pace, and Pikachu even hopped off his shoulder and started running ahead. "Pika-pi!" he shouted excitedly, stopping at the top of the hill. Ash picked up his pace even more, and quickly got up the hill, stopping behind Pikachu and looking down at the town below.
"Pallet Town," he said with a contented sigh. "Home." He took another deep breath, looked at Pikachu, and then the two of them began walking down the hill towards the small town ahead of them. Ash could see the rows of small houses in the middle of the town, surrounded by the small shops and restaurants. On the outskirts were more houses, further separated and with a bit more wildlife around them. Professor Oak's lab could be seen in the distance at the opposite end of the town, the forests and hills near it, clearly visible. "I can't wait to see all the Pokemon!" Ash said excitedly, looking at Pikachu up ahead, who slowed his pace and nodded, smiling.
As they made their descent down the hill, Ash saw a couple of Pidgey fly down towards the town, circling each other, seemingly having a mock battle. It made Ash think of Pidgeot, and he wondered if his old flying type was doing alright, defending his flock from that Fearow. Ash knew he didn't need to worry, though. If anyone could defend that flock, it was Pidgeot, and Ash knew that better than anyone else.
When they were about halfway down the hill, that was when Ash could truly see, smell, hear and just feel the familiarity of Pallet Town. He could see simple, small town look of his home. He could smell the home cooked meals and the freshly mowed grass. He could hear the sounds of Pokemon, the occasional car and the people in the small streets. And finally, he could just feel the peacefulness and familiarity. He'd really missed being home, and knew he needed this time to relax.
Once they reached the bottom of the hill and approached the entrance to Pallet Town, Ash glanced at Pikachu, biting his lip a bit nervously. "Well, I guess we got here in pretty good time. We probably have enough time to go to Professor Oak's lab if we wanted to..."
"Pika..." Pikachu seemed to growl, not looking impressed, his cheeks sparking a little. Ash knew the electric mouse would love to go and see all the Pokemon at the lab, but he was also quite aware that Ash's mother was waiting at home for him. Pikachu had learned that it was better to keep Ash from rushing off to the lab before going home.
"Ha ha...right," Ash said a little nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away. "I guess it's off to home then. We should be able to get there quickly if we run, alright?"
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted excitedly, quickly dropping to all fours and then bolting off ahead of Ash, running down the main path that would lead them home. Ash hadn't been planning on trying to go to Oak's lab after Pikachu's answer, but he got the feeling Pikachu was bolting off just to make sure. Sneaky move there, buddy.
Ash quickly took off after Pikachu, running through the entrance at top speed. He saw Pikachu rounding a corner up ahead, and did his best to pick up his pace. He didn't know why he was racing to catch up, but he supposed it felt right after a long flight and the walk through the forest. Might as well get the blood pumping one last time before getting home, he thought to himself.
Unfortunately, as Ash rounded the corner at top speed, he smacked into something, and fell back almost immediately, landing hard on his backside. He heard a shocked and pained yelp from in front of him, and blinked his eyes a few times to get the stars out of them. The person in front of him didn't look too impressed, and narrowed her eyes at him.
It was a girl about his age, with long navy blue hair, which had a white hat on it with a semicircle pink pokeball symbol on it. There were yellow clips on each side, with a strands of hair down below them. Around her neck was a red scarf, which Ash didn't get, since it wasn't exactly cold. She was wearing a black tank top and a short, pink skirt, which not surprisingly, were accompanied by her pink boots. She also had one of those fancy watches, a Poketch, which Ash recognized from the Sinnoh region. Ash blinked again, and then noticed she wasn't alone, as there was a small, blue, penguin-like Pokemon next to her, which he recognized as a Piplup.
"Are you from the Sinnoh region?" Ash asked suddenly, completely forgetting the fact that he'd just collided with this girl and knocked them both to the ground.
She obviously hadn't forgotten, though, as she completely ignored his question. "You're insane. What were you running like that for?"
"Pi-pikachu!" came an anguished shout, and a moment later, Pikachu was bounding past the girl and her Piplup and skidding to a stop in front of Ash. "Pika?"
"It's ok, I'm fine," Ash told his concerned Pokemon. He glanced up nervously at the girl and saw her looking at Pikachu with interest. "I accidentally ran into...um...?"
"Dawn. You accidentally ran into Dawn," she muttered, an angry look returning to her face. "And who are you?"
Ash sat up straighter and fixed his hat which had shifted a bit from the fall. "I'm Ash. Ash Ketchum from – well, from here." He laughed nervously and gestured around at the town and then looked back at her. He noticed she was still looking unimpressed, and decided there was no point in dragging this out any further. "Well, look, I'm sorry for running into you. I've gotta go, though. I haven't been back in awhile, so my mom's waiting for me." He quickly stood up and brushed some of the dirt off of his clothes.
"Oh..." Apparently his statement was enough to make Dawn realized he wasn't just someone who ran around knocking people to the ground. She stood up as well, shaking her head, apparently thinking dirt was in it. She then glanced away, looking towards a street sign. "Do you know where Professor Oak's lab is?" she asked suddenly.
"Huh?" Ash was surprised at how quickly she'd gone from hostile to just curious. "Um...it's over there, at the top of that hill. You'll see a bunch of Pokemon up there." He pointed out the hill at the end of the town and then looked back at Dawn and smirked. "I hope you're not planning on stealing my Pokemon."
Dawn narrowed her eyes and her unimpressed look returned. "I'm not a Pokemon thief," she muttered, voice as hostile as her eyes. Realization then seemed to hit her eyes and she looked at Ash curiously. "Do you have a lot of Pokemon?"
Ash shrugged and started to walk, deciding he'd better get going before he had to talk about his league failures. "I have a few," was all he said as he moved past her. "See you around. Say hi to Professor Oak for me."
Dawn rolled her eyes as Ash walked away. What a welcome to Pallet Town, she thought to herself, glancing down Piplup who was looking at her with concern. "It's alright Piplup," she said reassuringly. "How about we get going? Professor Oak's lab isn't too far away. We can introduce ourselves and then find somewhere to stay for a few days. Sound good?"
"Pip-piplup!" Piplup squeaked out happily, hopping a bit as he turned around and started leading the way down the road.
As Dawn followed Piplup along the small street, she couldn't help but admire the small town. It was somewhat like her own hometown, Twinleaf Town. It had the same kind of small town feel to it. However, it was a little busier here, with a few more concentrated houses in the centre of town and some more roads and shops. And of course, there wasn't a cool Pokemon lab in Twinleaf Town with a bunch of cool new Pokemon to see.
"Let's pick up the pace, Piplup," Dawn said excitedly, starting to jog behind Piplup. "I'm looking forward to seeing what Professor Oak might have to show us." She realized that as she and Piplup were running, she was somewhat being like Ash when he'd crashed into her. She decided to ignore that, though. She was a lot more careful.
After a few minutes, they finally reached the edge of the town at the end of a long street, and looked up at the hill above them, which had Professor Oak's lab up top. Dawn could actually just barely see a couple of flying types flying around over top of it. One of them looked to be kind of navy blue, like her hair, while the other one was brown with a bit of white and some red on its head.
"Hey, that's a Staraptor," Dawn whispered in awe. "Whoever that belongs to must be a really good trainer. I know it's a pretty strong Pokemon from what I saw and heard of them back home."
"Piplup!" Piplup squeaked, sounding just as impressed.
Dawn smiled widely as she started to walk up the hill with Piplup. She could already tell this was going to be worth the trip. She hadn't expected she'd get to see Pokemon not native to Kanto, so that was an exciting bonus. She pulled out her Pokedex as she neared the lab, and pointed it up towards the navy blue bird that seemed to be having a mock battle with Staraptor.
"Swellow, the Swallow Pokemon. It uses its impressive dive bombing speed in order to catch its prey," the Pokedex explained in its electronic voice.
"Interesting," Dawn whispered, glancing up again at the two flying types. "I think Swellow is a Hoenn native Pokemon. I wonder if the same trainer caught both of those Pokemon."
She decided to ignore that for now and find out later. It wasn't really that important, but Dawn thought that maybe if that trainer was around, they'd be able to give her some tips on training. She did come here to learn after all. Even if those Pokemon were specifically battle trained, she knew she could probably get some valuable information. Battling was half the game with contests anyways. If she could toughen up her Pokemon, maybe they'd be able to finish off some contest battles earlier, rather than having them go to the limit as they often did.
"Well hello there, young lady!" a man's voice suddenly said from up in front if Dawn.
"Ahh!" she yelped, jumping about three feet into the air and looking at the man in front of her in alarm. Her eyes widened in embarrassment when she realized who it was. He was an elderly man, with white hair and intelligent eyes. However, Dawn could clearly see he still had plenty of youth in him as he looked at her in amusement, adjusting his white lab coat.
"I apologize for startling you," Professor Samuel Oak said kindly. "I thought you might have seen me coming out of the lab. You're not a new trainer, I hope? I wasn't expecting anyone." His eyes drifted down towards Piplup and he nodded. "Ah...no I suppose not." He bent down and looked at the penguin Pokemon with interest. "You must be from the Sinnoh region, correct?"
"I-I...I started my journey a few years ago," Dawn explained nervously, still embarrassed from her yell. "I'm from Twinleaf Town. I got Piplup from Professor Rowan and we've been best friends ever since." She took a deep breath, starting to feel a bit more comfortable. "I'm a Pokemon coordinator and I've been kind of having a rough time. I just lost in the Indigo Grand Festival."
Oak stood up slowly, eyebrows raised as he looked at Dawn, seemingly impressed. "Wow, you made it to the Grand Festival? That's quite impressive."
"Well..." Dawn looked down at Piplup who looked back with disappointment in his eyes. "We've been at it a long time, and we're having trouble with...well we just don't like losing anymore. It's getting old."
"Mhm...yes I understand that feeling," Oak said, nodding sagely. "I actually know someone who is going through something similar. I was actually on my way to visit him right now."
Dawn nodded, turning away and gesturing to Piplup. "Alright, I'll let you get back to that, then. Sorry for bothering you." She paused, biting her lip nervously. "Would it be alright if I came back tomorrow? I was just hoping you could teach me some things about Pokemon that might be able to help me out."
Oak scratched his chin and looked at Dawn thoughtfully for a few moments. "You know, if I know my friend Delia as well as I think I do, she won't mind you coming along for dinner. I think her son might be just the person you need to talk to. I may be an expert on Pokemon research, but he's the expert on...well something much deeper than that. He just got back from the Kalos region, too, so there are probably some interesting new Pokemon to see."
Dawn looked at Oak in surprise, eyes wide. She'd only just met him and he was already being so nice to her. "Really? I don't want to intrude."
Oak dismissed that quickly with a wave of his hand. "No, no, of course not," he assured the coordinator. "Delia loves to have guests, even when her son is back home. She'll be happy to have you."
"Well..." Dawn was obviously a little hesitant to go, but she couldn't deny that a home cooked meal would be nice. She'd been travelling a lot, so she hadn't had a proper one of those in a long time. And if the trainer Oak was talking about really knew so much about Pokemon, that was another plus side to the whole thing. She smiled up at Professor Oak and nodded. "Sure, I'll go. It'll be nice to relax a bit."
"Excellent," Oak said happily, doing a mini victory fist pump. He them paused and looked at her in confusion for a moment, before putting his hand up to his face, looking exasperated. "I apologize. I'm Professor Oak by the way. Samuel Oak." He held out a hand, smiling kindly.
"I know who you are. You're world famous," Dawn answered with a laugh, reaching out and shaking Oak's hand. "I'm Dawn. Dawn Berlitz." She then gestured down to Piplup. "And this is Piplup, of course. My best friend."
Oak nodded, smiling as though liking that specification of Dawn's and Piplup's relationship. The two of them then began walking down the hill together, back the way Dawn had come. "Well, Dawn, I'm very interested in what you may know about Professor Rowan's research. He's a good friend of mine, so I'm quite interested."
"Oh...haha," Dawn chuckled a little nervously. "Well...I'm not exactly the most up to date on that stuff. I think he's pretty big into studying evolution, though."
"Oh yes," Oak said, sounding quite enthusiastic. "He's done an awful lot of work on that. His research has shown that around ninety percent of Pokemon are connected in some way to others by evolution. A truly fascinating subject."
Dawn wasn't really into the whole research thing most of the time, but she couldn't deny that was an interesting thing to know. It was definitely always fun when she got to see a Pokemon evolve. Maybe she needed to learn more about these things. Just being more knowledgeable about Pokemon in general was something that had value, whether it was obviously connected to being a coordinator or not.
Once they reached the bottom of the hill, and Oak started leading the way towards one of the small roads, he turned to Dawn, interest on his face. "Well how about you tell me which Pokemon you have? I assume it's not only Piplup."
"I have five others. Buneary, Pachirisu, Mamoswine, Togekiss and Quilava. I also have an Ambipom who's in Vermillion City at the Ping Pong Training Centre." Dawn knew she didn't exactly have a lot of Pokemon for how long she'd been a trainer, but once she'd had her team of six, she'd been happy with who she had. The idea of having to separate from them to transfer one out was tough. Especially after actually separating from Ambipom.
Professor Oak didn't seem to think her small amount of Pokemon was an issue, though, eyes lighting up with interest at the names of those she mentioned. "Oh my, you've got some interesting Pokemon. I would definitely like to see them later if you don't mind. Perhaps you can show us all some of your coordinator skills?"
"Uh...well..." Dawn didn't want to disappoint him, or be rude, especially considering she was getting invited to this dinner, but she really didn't feel like doing any demonstrations. She wanted to take it easy if possible. Maybe just try something new.
"Oh, pardon me, I forgot your whole reason for being here. You probably want a break from doing any coordinating." Oak laughed, looking a little embarrassed. "Well, hopefully you could still show me some of your Pokemon. That would definitely be interesting to see."
"Yeah, of course!" Dawn agreed happily, more than willing to show off her Pokemon as they were. "And I'm looking forward to seeing these Kalos region Pokemon you were talking about. I don't even know too much about the Kalos region and I don't think I've even seen pictures of what Pokemon from there look like."
Oak nodded, looking as excited as a little kid on their way to a candy store. "Ah yes, it's going to be quite the treat. And these are no ordinary Pokemon, either. They made it to the finals of the Kalos League only a week ago. Some of the strongest Pokemon you'll see."
Dawn's eyes widened and her jaw dropped in surprise. That probably could have been something for Professor Oak to mention earlier. She'd been invited to the homecoming of a super skilled trainer? Why was Oak being so casual about it? "What?" she asked, her voice quite high pitched from her surprise. "This guy is that good."
"Oh yes," Oak said, nodding. Dawn noticed there was pride in his eyes, as though he saw this trainer as family. "Ash has come a long way and learned a great deal. He's one of the finest trainers you'll ever meet. I think you'll learn quite a bit from him."
"I can't wait!" Dawn said excitedly, her shock and nervousness from a moment before replaced by interest. So she'd get to see how an expert trainer went about their business. She'd really get to know and understand what a professional with Pokemon acted like. She knew she'd be able to learn a lot from this...Ash. Wait...Ash?
"There's the house!" Oak suddenly said, pointing up ahead, down the small road, where a small house with a red roof, surrounded by a little, white fence, stood. "That's the Ketchum residence."
This is gonna be awkward, Dawn thought to herself, glancing nervously down at Piplup, who returned the look and then seemed to sigh as they followed Professor Oak up ahead. So that weirdo's a really good Pokemon trainer, huh? I guess I might as well see what he knows.
Clemont was not having the best of days. He'd been busy all day with Clembot, and altering the programming to find a way to mimic Ash Ketchum's battle style, but there had been far too many errors. Part of Clembot's head had even popped off during one of their mock battles, and then he'd started running into the wall, ordering Heliolisk to use Thunderbolt on a nonexistent Pokemon.
It hadn't just been Ash's style that Clemont had tried to emulate. He'd used some of his notes on many of the other top Kalos League contestants, particularly the Victor, Alain and the semifinalists Remo and Sawyer. However, when he'd inputted their styles, it really wasn't much different from what he'd already used with Clembot. They were different, but still very basic.
How does someone battle like that? How does someone get that kind of trust in their Pokemon? If I ever want to be a better gym leader, a better inventor or even just a better person, I need to understand what it is that Ash Ketchum did. Clemont sighed in exasperation as one of the programs he was trying to install in Clembot failed to load and an error message came up.
"I need a break," Clemont muttered out loud, leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling. He'd somehow managed to get wires tangled up there on the lights, and he had no idea how. He wondered if it was a prank from Bonnie for a moment, but then realized that his little sister was definitely not tall enough to reach up there. What do I get up to when I'm working on my inventions?
After a few moments of silently sitting and staring at nothing, Clemont stretched out in his seat, and then stood up, deciding it was time to get moving. He pulled out a few of the wires that were connecting Clembot to his computer, and then reattached the casing onto the robot's back. He clicked a few buttons, and then within a few moments, Clembot straightened up, and looked at his inventor with his seemingly emotionless robot eyes.
"Good evening, sir," he greeted Clembot in his robotic voice, the metal eyelids coming down somewhat creepily as he unnecessarily blinked. "Were you able to make any more progress on the work which you desired to accomplish?"
"Uh...well not exactly," Clemont answered, sighing at the thought of all the work he'd put in for very little progress. "It's hard to explain. I'd rather not get into all of that right now." He gestured towards the elevator, which would take them down to the base of Prism Tower. "How about we get going? Bonnie and my dad will be wondering where we are."
Clembot looked at Clemont for a moment, and then gave a short nod. "Very well, sir. If that is what you wish. Will I be required to prepare a meal for you and your family this evening?" He put his arm across his chest and gave a short bow, as if to demonstrate that it would be an honour to serve Clemont and his family their meal.
Clemont didn't want to get into that habit, though. He was glad to have Clembot for things such as that in emergencies, but Clembot's main purpose was for operating the Lumiose City gym when Clemont wasn't available. And, of course, now, his purpose was to help Clemont grow and learn, by trying to understand what the best and most unpredictable trainers did to get so far in life. All in all, Clembot was not meant to be something to be used as an excuse to not do things around the house. Part of that was Clemont trying to encourage Bonnie to help out more, and part of it was so that he could make sure Clembot didn't get overworked.
"No, Clembot, you don't need to worry about that," Clemont said, again gesturing towards the elevator. "Come on, it's getting late. We should be going."
"Very well, sir," Clembot said, with a robotic form of enthusiasm. He then followed Clemont inside the elevator, walking very straight as he did so. When they got in, he instinctively reached for the button and clicked it to take them to the base of the tower. Sometimes Clemont regretted making Clembot so helpful. It was sometimes better to do things yourself, and perhaps that was part of his trouble. He hadn't done enough of that, and was now too reliant on others. Obviously, relying on others was important to an extent, but Clemont needed to learn to face his fears and push himself to do things on his own. All that from an elevator button push. I've got way too much on my mind, Clemont thought, as the elevator rushed downwards.
Once they reached the bottom of the tower, Clemont and his robotic assistant stepped out, and the latter stood at attention, seemingly thinking he was about to get sent into the gym. "Oh don't worry, Clembot, the gym doesn't open for another couple of weeks. We've still got time to prepare for reopening. There's still a lot of work to do before we're ready for the next wave of challengers, too."
"I agree, sir. We will be very busy, that is certain," Clembot said with a nod. "I do believe we will still be one of the toughest gyms in the Kalos region regardless."
Clemont gave a short laugh at that, and then turned towards the hallway which would lead back towards the exit of the tower. Within a couple of minutes, the two were outside of the tower, and looking up towards the setting sun. Something about a relaxing looking sunset made Clemont feel more relaxed. He needed to just soak it in for a moment.
"Excuse me," a man's voice suddenly said, causing Clemont to snap his attention away from the setting sun and look ahead. He could see a man approaching him, with black hair, a white lab coat and a blue shirt underneath. Clemont instantly recognized him as Professor Sycamore, the Kalos region's top Pokemon researcher and an expert on mega evolution. "Excuse me, Clemont?" he asked again, once getting closer. "I'm sorry to bother you at this time," he said, coming to a stop in front of Clemont and Clembot. "I'm Professor Sycamore, by the way. Unfortunately, I don't believe we've met, despite both having important roles in this city."
"It's alright," Clemont answered, smiling. "I haven't exactly been a gym leader for that long. And...well Clembot is basically the gym leader half the time." He pointed to the robot next to him, and noticed Professor Sycamore's eyes light up with interest when he noticed the robot, however his gaze quickly went back to Clemont, who noticed the professor wanted to speak. "Is something going on?"
"Oh it's nothing bad," Sycamore told him quickly, raising a hand up as though stopping Clemont from assuming that was the case. "I'm here on...well I guess I'll call it business."
"Business? What do you mean?" Clemont asked, having no idea why the smartest Pokemon mind in Kalos wanted to talk to him for...business. "Is there something you need for electric types or something?"
Sycamore smiled, and then shook his head, looking slightly embarrassed. "Well, no that's not exactly it, Clemont. Well, you see, the thing is, there's a project I've been working on over the past couple of years. It's been a lot of work, and quite frankly, it's distracted me from my mega evolution research." He waved his hand, dismissing that. "That's not the point, though. Anyways, there's something I've been working on with a few others, and it's finally starting to take shape."
Clemont nodded, although it was more so to be polite, as he still didn't quite get why Sycamore was coming to him about whatever this was. He suddenly found himself getting quite interested in whatever it was. If Professor Sycamore wanted his help for any kind of special project, he was definitely interested. "What is it?" Clemont finally asked, eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Is it something completely different from mega evolution? Were you researching some other kind of phenomenon?"
"Um...well..." Sycamore gave an embarrassed chuckle. "See, it's not exactly an exciting and flashy Pokemon research discovery that I've been investigating. In fact, it's more about...well...bringing more people into that world. Not just in research, though. In all ways. It's something to give people an opportunity to learn about Pokemon in new and creative ways. It's not a new idea, exactly. We'll have competition, of course. Many similar institutions are already in Kalos, and a few are in other regions as well. Their success inspired me."
"What are you talking about, exactly?" Clemont asked, laughing a little at how the Pokemon researcher's excitement was causing him to not be very clear. "Institutions? Like what?"
Sycamore smiled excitedly, spreading his arms out. "Schools! Universities, and colleges! And I don't mean ones dedicated to math, science, or subjects such as those, although courses in those areas will be offered. What I mean, though, is that these are schools dedicated to learning about Pokemon!"
Clemont thought for a moment, remembering a news story he'd heard a few months ago, about something like this. He'd never really followed it much, living in Lumiose City, which didn't have one of these schools, but Clemont had definitely heard of these other ones on occasion. And sometimes, what went on could lead to a big media commotion. "They make a big deal out of the competitions between schools, don't they?" Clemont asked, finally remembering a story about a school in Anistar City winning a championship, and getting to celebrate with Diantha. "It's called the Interschool Pokemon League, right?"
"Oh yes, indeed they do make a big deal of that," Sycamore answered, nodding as though the subject had got him flustered before. "That's something we're not likely to do too well with at first, being a new school, but I suppose we'll have to try. We did have a very successful Pokemon university in Lumiose City many years ago. Diantha trained there for four years, and made it somewhat prestigious. Unfortunately, the success never returned, and they were forced to close fairly soon after her departure. It seems the IPL is crucial to a school's success in keeping classes running as well. We'd have some leeway, though. I don't think we'd be expected to do very well in the beginning."
Clemont nodded in agreement, kind of liking the idea himself, and actually having an image of himself participating in something like that. Now that he thought of it, he was pretty sure he'd read a story that a gym leader had gone to one of these schools a long time ago. It wasn't like he wouldn't be eligible if he wanted to try it out at some point. He shook his head to get the thought out of his mind. He looked at Sycamore, narrowing his eyes in confusion. "So...what is it that you're hoping I can do?"
"I was hoping you could help me get the registration system working," Sycamore explained, eyes lighting up hopefully. "We've got the teachers, we've got the classes, we've got the dorms. All we need now is the students. If you could help in fixing up our registration system, we can start recruiting within the week."
Serena sighed as she stared at the Rhyhorn training field outside, nearly one hundred percent certain that her mother was going to want her to do a bit of training in that the next day. Even if her mother accepted her new performing life, Serena knew that their was still the secret dream for her to follow in the Rhyhorn racing footsteps of her mother. Grace was supportive of Serena's new path, but still very enthusiastic about her own, that she'd often wished for Serena to take.
The whole thing just made her want to get back out on the road again and travelling. She loved her mother, but it was better to be doing something than sitting at home. And if sitting at home actually meant going out and getting thrown around by a Rhyhorn, Serena was definitely not interested. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't start collecting Princess Keys for awhile yet, which had led to Shauna going back home as well, where she wasn't pushed to do Rhyhorn training, so it actually made sense. Not only that, but Trevor and Tierno were off planning to do their own thing. They'd gone back home as well, but would probably be gone very soon, either collecting badges elsewhere, or doing whatever they decided their dreams should involve. Serena felt like she was the only one without anything to do that she enjoyed.
"Serena! Dinner!" came her mother, Grace's, voice.
Serena sighed again, and then got up from her spot, and made her way towards the kitchen, noticing her mother had already put the food out onto the table, and was sitting and waiting for her. Serena felt slightly odd about that, wondering if her mother had been waiting here with the food for a bit before calling Serena out. She decided to ignore that, though, and sat down quickly. With silent confirmation from both sides of the table, Serena and her mother began to eat.
The silence didn't last nearly as long as Serena had hoped, but it was a bit longer than she'd expected. Regardless, after a couple of minutes, Grace spoke up. "Well, Serena, what do you plan on doing until you can resume your performing?"
"You're not going to make me go back to doing Rhyhorn racing, right?" Serena asked, not even bothering to hide the fact that she was anxious about the whole idea. She liked Rhyhorn, of course, but the racing part just wasn't as enjoyable as it seemed to be for her mother. Not to mention, getting tossed around wasn't very fun at all. "I really don't want to do that. I'll help out more around the house while I'm here, but just don't make me do Rhyhorn racing."
Grace looked at Serena for a moment, in silence, and then laughed and looked away out towards the window. "No, don't worry. If you don't want to do that, you don't need to. Remember, I asked what you planned on doing. I didn't ask you what I wanted you to do."
Serena opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it quickly, realizing she didn't have anything to really say about it. Well, what do I want to do? It's so long until I can get my Princess Keys again. I could practice performing the whole time, but eventually that would drag out a bit too much. I don't really know what to do. She finally just looked back at her mother, a gloomy expression on her face and shrugged.
Grace smiled sadly at Serena, a bit of pity in her eyes. "I guess you're kind of feeling down without your friends here, aren't you?" She glanced out the window again, taking a deep breath. "I haven't seen you this lonely since you were just a little girl."
"What do you mean?" Serena asked, searching her brain for what her mother was talking about, but not finding an answer. She had to admit it was true she was feeling down since her friends had gone home, but she didn't think she'd ever felt this down before. Whatever her mother was talking about must have been a long time ago.
Grace looked up in thought for a moment, drumming her fingers along the table as she did so. "It was about twelve years ago, when you were six." She paused a moment, which allowed Serena to wonder why her mother needed to describe her age like she didn't know it. After a moment of silence, though, Grace continued. "Do you remember going to that summer camp back then? It was only for a very short time."
Serena bit her lip as she thought about it. It didn't really ring a bell. It had been a long time ago. She closed her eyes a moment and thought. Camp...summer camp. Something about a Poliwag, maybe? Her eyes opened and she stared at the table in front of her, starting to feel a slightly numb sensation throughout her body. What's going on? she thought. Why do I feel so strange? Serena put her hand to her forward and lightly hit herself, which she realized was probably slightly alarming to her mother. There was a Poliwag...and a boy, she remembered. I fell in the forest when I was lost. The Poliwag scared me. She couldn't believe it was all coming to her so quickly. It didn't make any sense that she'd forgotten it. It all seemed so clear in her mind at the moment. Pain pain go away... She blinked, trying to remember the rest.
Finally, after a few more moments of trying to remember, Serena just shook her head and looked back at her mother, who was looking at her with a bit of concern. "I sort of remember it, but only bits and pieces." Serena couldn't really explain why, but she was really frustrated with herself for forgetting. It didn't seem right somehow. For some reason, she felt like she should be remembering. It was something important. Wasn't it?
"Well, I don't know if you remember what you were like before going there, but it wasn't fun for me, I'll tell you that," Grace said, smirking at the memory as she glanced up, looking as though she could see what she was remembering as though it were right in front of her. "You were refusing to go and you didn't stop crying the whole way there. I hated myself at the time for leaving you there, but we'd committed to it already, and I was so sure at the time that it would be a good experience for you."
Serena didn't bother pointing out that her mother's idea of good experiences weren't always the best. She still had a couple of scars from Rhyhorn training that could prove that. "Well...I remember that I fell down. So...maybe it wasn't a good experience for me," Serena muttered, not knowing if she was bitter at her mother for sending her to camp twelve years ago, or herself for forgetting what had happened.
"I don't know," Grace said, sounding slightly distracted. She looked like it was her who was having the memory trouble. I remember you being so down when you were leaving. I think you did end up enjoying yourself. Something about Pallet Town made you want to stay."
Serena just shrugged, deciding she didn't want to talk about it anymore. Whether being sad about leaving a camp and being sad about her friends being gone was the same thing or not, she had to find something to do regardless. Nothing was going to change that. She realized that she and her mother had been leaving their food in front of them getting cold, and quickly started to eat. Before she went into communication lock down with her mother, she gave her one more look. "I'll deal with what I'm gonna do next soon enough. Let's just enjoy our dinner for now."
Grace just nodded, and then the two of them began to eat once again. The rest of the evening went by pretty slowly after that. Even though Serena had wanted to push the conversation and thoughts of what she was going to have to do out of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder. She didn't know of any other regions that had performances like Kalos, so it wasn't like she could even just hop on a plane and start hunting Princess Keys somewhere else. As the night wore on, she just felt herself growing more and more anxious.
Finally, the time came for bed, and after wishing her mother goodnight, Serena made her way to her bedroom. She yawned, feeling exhaustion starting to overtake her. She knew she'd fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. For a moment, she was wondering if she'd even make it to her bed, as her eyes started to droop. She gave her head a quick shake, and then went over to her closet in order to get fresh pyjamas. She couldn't sleep in her day clothes of course.
As she rummaged through her closet, she noticed something slightly blue near the back of it at the bottom. Must've fallen when I unpacked after getting back, Serena realized, reaching forward and taking hold of it and pulling it out. To her surprise, it wasn't some kind of shirt or hat, which her closet was full of. No, it was much too small for that. It was...a handkerchief. It was mostly light blue, except for the bottom which was a darker shade. There was also a little pokeball symbol on it, signifying it as the handkerchief of a Pokemon lover. A handkerchief that Serena definitely hadn't had before she realized how much she liked Pokemon.
Don't give up till it's over.
Serena's eyes widened, and she stared at the handkerchief in her hands. What had her mother said, again? Something about Pallet Town made you want to stay. Something about...Pallet Town!
"Oh my Arceus..." Serena whispered...holding up the handkerchief and looking closely at it. She'd been right that whole time at the Kalos League. She'd known it in her gut. She'd known it in her heart. "Ash..." she felt her eyes fill with tears. Had she let her only opportunity to see him, slip away? Had she really allowed her doubt make her think he wasn't worth talking to? No...it didn't need to be like that. She even knew where he lived. "Don't give up till it's over," she whispered to herself. Don't give up till it's over. I'm going to see you again. I'm going to see you, Ash. I'm not forgetting about you ever again.